Pantaloons
by The Lovely Lady Madonna
Summary: Set after fourth book, so don't read it until you've read the fourth book unless you want to become incurably depressed. A girl finds a pair of pants while on vacation, so what else would she do than bring them home and share them with her friends?
1. Introroroduction!

They came to us. Well, one of us actually found them, but we believe that's just because not all of us were in Greece.

They belong to all of us.

**Frankie **says it's magic, plain and simple.

**Delia, **says Frankie watches too much TV, but agrees that they are special.

**Bailey**, well she's been freaked out since we found 'Bailey' stitched into one leg with very faint, washed out string.

**Melora **says that they're just what we need.

And, boy, did we need them.


	2. Virgin Brides and Spiteful Pizzas

God, they were fighting again. In public, in a store, in a foreign country. Fantastic.

I turned the shop keeper to apologize, "sorry" I said in Greek. At least I think it was sorry. Who knows, maybe I just offered myself to be his virgin bride. I looked back at my parents, still screaming, still making very large hand gestures, still hating each other to the core. Married life wasn't lookin' too bad

I don't even understand why we needed to go on this trip together, I certainly wasn't up for a trip with my family, knowing it would be the usual Fight-Fest. Especially considering my parents have been divorced since I was in pre-school. And with good reason. My dad is always off in his own world, one called Work, and my mom's a judgmental , well _Judge. _She thinks she's better than everyone because she's called Honorable all day. Must be some psychological thing. . .. Anyway, get the together, and it's a show for all.

"If anyone cares I'm going to go change my name to Candy and join a prostitution ring!" I yelled as I left the store, knowing that no one was even going to acknowledge me. That tends to happen a lot.

Santorini was actually really pretty, I'll admit that. _'Maybe this trip won't be completely lame_' I thought. I worked my through mobs of tourists, following the small paved paths that wound their way along the side of the caldera. Tourists, _blehhh. _Is it okay to hate something, even if your technically part of that something? I finally ended up just sitting on a ledge, looking out into the caldera, and trying not to get whacked over by a oversized fanny pack. I tried to forget I still had a few more days with my parental guardians. That's all they were to me, they were 'My mother and father' and i was 'Melora', they were never 'mom and dad' and I was never 'Mel'. Our relationship was strictly biological. I loved very few things in my life, but the love I had for them was mainly obligational. The only people I really loved were my friends. They were my true loves.

And they go to call me Mel.

* * *

"I'm bored!" Yelled my five year old sister, not caring that I was trying to cook dinner. 

"Well, sweetie," I said, careful not to burn the sauce, "I'm busy right now, but if you'd like, you can help me cook."

Her eyes just widened, from fear probablyGod, you'd think that with six kids, someone would help out with the chores. She ran over to the other room and fell over laughing. "I'm not bored anymore" she yelled back. '_Good for you'_ I thought. Wait, what was so interesting in the other room. . .

"SAM! DO NOT STAPLE YOUR BROTHER TO THE WALL!" I marched to the other room and took the office tool away from him. "I swear to god, if you don't stop terrorizing your brothers, I will nail you to the ceiling!" A weird bubbling sound came from the kitchen.

"DAMMIT!" I shouted, which got lots of 'Delia cussed! Delia cussed!' out of my siblings. I ran over to the sauce. It was crispy, sauce isn't supposed to be crispy is it? Well, that what I got for trying to cook something different._ "_How about macaroni guys?" I opened the cabinet and, great, we were out. "Shit" I looked down, Sam just smiled a said "You did it again!" At the rate I was going, I would have raised a well rounded group of children who could out swear everyone in the state within the month.

I grabbed my head with my hands, and felt like screaming. But I didn't, no matter how far those kids pushed me, I would never break in front of them. Never. But, man, those kids pushed me to my extreme limit.

"Is Frankie coming for dinner, again?!?" one of my siblings asked. That made me smile, these kids loved my friends almost I much as I did. I smiled even harder, _nobody_ loved my friends as much as I did.

* * *

"You're not trying." I glared at my teacher, of _course_ I was trying! What the hell did she think I was doing? Having spasms that just happened to go along with our routine at times. 

"I'll try harder" was my response. I was trying to work on not attacking people. That's what Bailey said I should do, and she's always right.

We went through the routine about 20 more times. Each time, my teacher had a another critique for me. And I worked on whatever she told me to, I was good at dancing, and I wanted her to see that. Finally, after we went through the routine so many times that I would bet money I could do it in a coma, she stopped in front of me while I panted and gasped for air, and did a sort quick, firm nod. I smiled and yelled '_VICTORY_' about thirty times in my head; I knew that was all I was going to get out of her, and it was good enough for me.

While I was packing up, a heard a couple of girls in my group say, ". . . she thinks she's so much better than us, just because Reeds (my teacher) focuses on her so much, but I mean she's here on _scholarship_, how pathetic is that?" Inside, I was ice. They were such snobs. They lived with snobs, would grow up snobs, marry snobs, and have lots and lots of snobby babies.

"Yeah," one was adding, "I bet she doesn't even have any friends!" Okay, that was snpbby, stupid, completely lame, and it made me laugh. My friends were my life, even so more than dance. Without them, I was just the scholarship girl, but with them, I was Frankie, the girl who has no limits on what she can and will do. They make me who I am, and they're the ones who made me try for the scholarship in the first place.

* * *

"You can't just sit here all day, Bailey" My mom said, peering into my room. Did they not get the concept of the whole closed door thing? 

"I'm not sitting, I'm reading." I held up my book and pointed. My mom sighed and then backed out of the doorway, they thought that reading was just a waste of time. Probably because Jillian didn't read, and whatever Jillian didn't do, no one should ever do. My sister, Jillian, was a god on earth in their eyes. My parents _worshiped_ her; I bet that if I snuck into their room and opened their closet, I would find a shrine with her picture on it behind my dad golf shirts.

I went back to my book, I liked books, we were close. It asked nothing from me, and all I asked of it was to open. But I wouldn't get farin it, just then my dad's head popped in and said, "Do you know where Jillian went?"

I put down my book, and said "No, Dad, but you can call her, you did get her phone." 'And not me' I wanted, but didn't, add.

"No, I don't want to bother her, I just wanted a buddy to go to the driving range with."

"Well, I'm not doing anything, dad." I said, "I could go with you."

"No, that's alright, I'll just wait 'till she gets home!" His head popped away again, and left me feeling. . . well, not great.

I felt like I was just a burden to my parents perfect little lives, with their one perfect daughter. I was like the third eye or something, I was the abnormal gross thing that people just tried to ignore and cover up. My night stand started to buzz, what with my phone vibrating on it. I looked at a text from Delia. **NEED FOOD TO FEED THE CAHILL ARMY. Care to donate?**. I laughed, my friends ejoyed my company, would never try to cover me up, and would miss me. '_Unlike here' _I thought as I grabbed some frozen food from the fridge and headed over to Delia's. I laughed as I drove, I had grabbed the last boxes of their favortie pizza. Just to spite them.

* * *

Okay, first fanfic. Comment, but be gentle! erm, i'm feeling good about this, but tell me if i just need to get on some pills or somthing.


	3. Germans and Stick Shifts

**I own everything but the pants, in all their glory.**

* * *

Melora scowled as some overweight German, burnt to a bright red crisp, smacked her in the back with his backpack/water bottle. Turning around to yell (she didn't really know German but she figuered he'd understand that she was upset if she made enough obscene hand gestures), she tripped over some loose rock on the ground and tumbled over the ledge. She landed with a thud on a patch of dirt and dry grass, in between railings. _Great...now I look like I'm some sort of beggar... _she thought. She laid down on her back and looked at the sky, not caring that tourists were taking pictures and pointing. 

After she picked off most of the dry leaves and scrapped most of the dirt and shit, yes shit, off herself, she began to look for a way back to path. _Okay,_ she thought_, I may be covered in crap, but at least I have my dignity._ Another tourist snapped a picture. _For the most part. _She looked around. Where was she? She would have to jump over the ledge if she wanted to get out without climbing up the hill. She walked up to the "ledge". It went past her shoulders. _Um, yeah, that's not going to happen._

She started to walk up the hill, noticing all the rocks and plants she was lucky she missed. Walking up, up, up the hill got very tiring, very quickly in the Grecian heat for someone who considered a walk around the block to be great cardio. Exhausted, and covered in who-knows-what, Melora found some shade under a tree and fell over. _Okay, maybe I should do that class at the gym that Frankie was talking about. _Staring back out at the caldera, it really was the only thing she liked about Santorini, the rancid girl sighed out in relief for being half way up the hill from hell. She laid her head back to look at the sky, but, wait, what was that in the tree? She stood up and looked into the tree, it looked like a lump. Not that that helped or anything, lumps never helped. If she stood on her toes, she could almost reach it, because the tree was short and she was extremely tall (6.1' and as graceful as a new born giraffe). She could almost reach it but not quite, so she broke a branch off and sort of poked and jabbed it out of the tree. With some excitment, though she wasn't sure why, Melora grabbed it as it fell. It was a lot heavier than she expected. She held it up, trying to determine if the lump was anything but. The lump cracked from dried dirt and grime as she shook it. _What is this and where in hell as it been? _She laid it down on the ground and tried to flatten it out into a shape. _What is...what are a pair of pants doing in a tree?

* * *

_

**SmellyMelly00: Del, you'll never guess what I found today!**

**Deli Deli Deli28: Was this before or after you had to ask the German folk to help you over the wall?**

**SmellyMelly00: After. And I'm quite proud of myself for having mimed well enough for them to know what I was talking about.**

**Deli Deli Deli28: Maybe they didn't. Maybe they just wanted your Russian ass.**

**SmellyMelly00: Who doesn't? Anyway I found a pair of pants in a tree. **

**Deli Deli Deli28: Only you, Mel. Only you

* * *

**

The house was quite. It made Delia me nervous, she knew it wasn't because there was a psycho murderer in her house or anything, her family was just out. That didn't happen very often. She decided not to go with them so that she could pack for Mel's. Mel was coming home really late tonight, so the girls (Delia, Frankie, and Bailey) decided to go over there and wait for them to come home and then spend the night. Each of them knew that Mel was going to need them there after two weeks alone with her parents.

Delia walked around her house trying to find the items she needed for the night. This was hard considering her siblings liked to go into her room and "borrow" and move things around. It made her mad, but what could she do? They were kids, and they thought it was like a game. A weird, annoying game that drove her crazy, but a game nonetheless. She went up to her oldest brother's (age 12) door, and was startled when she saw him sitting at his computer with headphones over his head.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

No response.

"HELLOOO????" She yelled.

Again, nothing. She looked at the floor of his room, it was _covered_ in gross pre-teen boy stuff. No way was she going in that. S o, she did the only reasonable thing.

He whirled around angrily when her shoe rebounded off his head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!" he yelled as Delia leaned against the door laughing. When she saw his face, she didn't feel like laughing anymore. She felt like hurting someone, the someone who gave him that black eye that seemed to cover half his face.

"Who did that to you?" she asked, trying to make her way through his junk on the floor.

"Nobody," he said quickly, whirling around in his chair, away from her, to face the computer.

"Oh, so you just tripped then?" She asked with anger.

"Just leave me alone, Delia. It's nothing."

"Do Mom and Dad know?"

"I said just leave me alone!" He yelled, shoving her out of his room.

She knocked and pleaded more with his door than with him for the next half-hour. Eventually, even _her_ patience ran out , so she grabbed what she could, stuffed it into her duffle bag, and headed over to Mel's Mansion.

* * *

**FranktheBanker7: My computers crashing.**

**LeyLey894: Things from the 80's tend to do that.**

**FranktheBanker7: shut. up.**

**LeyLey894: You know you love me.**

**FranktheBanker7: hmm..**

**LeyLey894: Fine, I'll bring you candy tonight. Will you forgive me then?**

**FranktheBanker7: Okay, deal. When should we head over to Mel's?**

**LeyLey894:I'm bored, so. . . how does now work for you?**

**FranktheBanker7: Couldn't be better.

* * *

**

Bailey, pulled in front of Frankie's house. When they were younger, Frankie used to be embarrassed that she lived the worse part of the neighborhood. But she finally got over that when she realized the three of them weren't going anywhere. Ever. They'd been together since they were babies, Delia's mom ran a day care, and the other three were her only clients under the age of five at the time.

If Bailey were outside any of her other friend's houses, she would have just honked like there was no tomorrow. But at Frankie's. . . well, her neighbors are quite the characters. So, pulling the keys out of the ignition, Bailey walked up to Frankie's door and was about to knock when she heard shouting.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" That was a man's voice. Frankie's dad left a long time ago, so it was probably one of her moms "boyfriends".

"Out. Not that I need to tell you where I'm going." That was Frankie. No doubt.

"Like hell you don't!" His words were slurred, he was drunk. What a surprise. "Don't you walk away from me!"

"You don't have any authority over me! I don't even know why my mom puts up with you, you drunk, po- . .. She was cut off by the sound of a hit. A hard hit.

Bailey was shaking she was so mad. That man was a drunk, he didn't deserve to be anywhere near Frankie and her mom. She wanted to hurt him. Hurt him like he hurt Frankie. She would have barged in right then, if Frankie hadn't stormed out that very seconded. Frankie was suprised to see Bailey standing out side, and they locked eyes, with Frankie holding her cheek. Nothing needed to be said. Not then. They both knew it, just being together would be enough untill all four of them could be together. The walked in silence to the car, and sat in silence all the way to Mel's. With Bailey holding on as tight as she could to Frankie's hand, telling her she was there, in more than one way.

And that was all she needed to do.

* * *

Yeah, two in two days. Give me my trophy, as i expect it. Uh, review. please. all it has to say is 'i read this'. I just want to know if anyone is actually reading my stuff. Thanks to the two that did.


	4. Frozen Veggies and Party Streamers

Congrats for sticking with me through the..erm...four chapters. what a challenge, I know.

Read & Enjoy. Cause if you don't enjoy it, then what's the point of reading?

* * *

Thank God you're finally here," Delia said as she stood up on the Novikov's front porch, "I mean, I know where the key is, but I just don't like...Oh my god! Frankie! Are you okay?" She rant up to her friend who was holding a bag of mixed veggies up to her face, frozen of course.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing." Frankie said, trying to convince herself as well.

"Like hell it is!" Bailey said outraged, "Frankie, you need to tell someone."

"No. It doesn't matter."

"What about your mom," Delia put in, "she'll want to help you."

Frankie laughed and said, "She's made it _very _clear who she cares about more."

Delia and Bailey nodded, both of them knowing what Ms.(Call me Cindy) Boyd values the most.

After a awkward moment of silence that was _way _to long, Delia grabbed Frankie's hand and pulled her through the front door yelling "C"mon! We only have two hours!"

Frankie willingly went, she knew her friends hadn't dropped the issue, but they wouldn't focus on it for her sake.

Bailey picked up their bags and shuffled into the house, grunting and blowing her bangs out of her face the whole way.

* * *

"Do we really need streamers?" Bailey asked sitting on the ground in the foyer, blowing up balloons.

"Um, yes!" Delia said as she tossed Frankie the rolls of streamers, "what kind of party would it be without streamers?"

"A lame one." Frankie answered, leaning dangerously far over the side of the banister to put streamers on the chandelier.

"Exactly," Delia said proudly as she held Frankie's feet so that she wouldn't fall to her death. Which would be bad, obviously.

"Uh, what exactly are you doing?" a voice from the front door said.

"Mel!" the three girls yelled, two of them running over to hug/tackle her. One was still hanging on the banister with her feet, her hands on the chandelier.

"Um, guys?" she said, slightly worried.

"Vhat on earth is going on here?" an outraged voice, with a slight Russian accent, said from the front door.

"Uh, we were celebrating... you're...uh...safe return?" Delia said uncertainly.

"Yes, it is a miracle ve survived that horrible plane ride."

"Exactly what we were thinking" Bailey said, smiling nervously. She'd know Mel's parents for a long time, but they were still scary. No doubt about it.

"So, uh, did you have a nice trip?" Frankie asked.

"Bah! Hardly, ve couldn't do _anything_ because this vun here vanted to spend all of _my _money and more things she'll never even see again!" Mr. Novikov said, gesturing to his wife.

"Oh, so you're mister big vorld traveler are you! You vant to see everything! Vell, vhy don't you go see Antarctica now then, vhy don't you just leave!" Mrs. Novikov yelled, storming up the stairway. Mr. Novikov stormed out the door, probably to his work, in return.

The four girls just stood there feeling awkward.

"Well, that was fun." Mel said sarcastically.

"Tell us _everything_ about Europe." Frankie pleaded, lying on her stomach with her friends, their heads forming a circle.

"Uggh," Mel grunted, "its exactly the same as it was _last_ time I went. Nothing has changed, I swear!"

"Fine," Frankie said, "but I still don't see why you hate going so much."

"Uh," Delia interrupted, "you were there in the doorway earlier, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but whatever," Frankie went on, "just ditch the rents and explore Europe on your own."

"Hah," Bailey said, "like Mel could find anything by herself!"

Mel through a pillow at her and continued, "_Anyway_, what I want to know is how you got that mark on your face?"

Frankie looked down and said, "Rick hit me."

"WHAT? Wait, ohmygod, when, godgodgod, did you tell anyone? Please tell me you told someone?"

"No. I...I just haven't, okay? Can we please drop it?" The other three girls exchanged looks, which caused Frankie to say, "Guys! I'm tough. I can handle this by myself!"

"We know," Bailey said, "we just want you to know that you don't have to."

"I know."

* * *

Later that night, when the mood was...well, better. Mel finally told her friends about what she found.

"So, Mel" Delia said, "want to show us those magical pants you found in the tree?"

"Ahg! I completely forgot! Hold on!" Mel yelled as she ran out of the room.

"Magic...?"

"Pants...?" Bailey and Frankie asked.

"Yep," Mel said running into the room, "Magic Pants"

She set down them down in the middle of her friends and then sat down herself, completing circle.

"So, why are they magic?" Delia asked.

"You can't feel it?" Frankie asked, "I completely can, it's like a sense, you know?"

"Exactly!" Mel exclaimed, "Its like, they're...important. Like they wanted me to bring them home."

"That's..." Delia drifted off as she held them in her hand.

"That's crazy, that's what that is!" Bailey said.

"C'mon, Lee." Frankie urged, "just try to imagine. Magic!"

"You can't have magic pants!" Bailey stated.

"Then tell me why, then, when I wore them to dinner with mother and father, they didn't fight the _whole night_." Mel finished smiling.

"See," Frankie said, as if that explained everything, "Magic."

"No, they were probably too-"

"Uh, Lee. Look" Delia, who had been examining the pants the whole time, put them in Bailey's lap and pointed to something, light and faded.

"What?" Mel and Frankie both said excitedly.

"It...it says..._Bailey_." Bailey said stunned.

"Magic." Frankie stated.

* * *

Its short, I know. But i had to get the pants home. We all know that's when the fun starts. Review if you dare. 


	5. Flying Books and Pool Parties

New chapter with thanks to the sickness that kept me home today. So _that's_ what bittersweet means...

* * *

"Okay, so Frankie gets them first," Frankie made a victory hand motion as Delia went on, "and then she'll give them to Mel, then me, then Lee. Sound good?" 

"Sounds fantastic!" Frankie said grabbing the pants and holding them tightly against her small body, "I'm so pumped! Wait, what if they don't fit...oh well I'm too jazzed to care! I've never had magic pants before! " She ran/danced out the front door all the way to Delia's mini-van.

"Has anyone _ever_ had magic pants before?" Bailey said picking up the last few bits of streamers on the ground.

"Fatty did," Mel said, trying to rub off the profanity that had somehow got written on her head.

Delia and Bailey just looked at her. "Who did?" Delia asked.

"Fatty. It's a move, you know, _Fatty's Magic Pants_..?" Mel said expecting her two friends to know something that trivial. All she got was blank stares. "Oh come on, from 1912!" More blank stares, and then and impossibly load burst of laughter.

Mel rolled her eyes as her friends fell over in pain from laughing to hard. All she could hear in between the bursts of laughter was the random "Fatty", "Magic, or "Pants".

"Just get out," Mel said shoving them, not so gently, out the door.

"Oh, come on Melly!" Delia said. Bailey tried to say they were sorry, but she was having trouble breathing. After composing themselves, they each went to a window on either side of the door and kissed it, making sure their friend could see them.

"Come on Fatty," Delia said walking toward her car, "Let's get you and your magic pants home."

Frankie stopped waving good bye to Bailey and said, "Wait, you think I'm fat?"

* * *

When Bailey got home, it was to an empty house, a note said that her parents and sister had gone out. 

So she dumped her stuff on the ground, not bother to clean up, grabbed the book she was reading and headed up stairs. She pushed the screen out of the window in her room and carefully stepped out onto the roof. After a few minutes of carefully shuffling, she had positioned herself stratteling a part that stuck out, and leaning against the main roof and facing the street. It was quite up there, well, except for the constant screaming of the kids running around. But that was understandable and easily blocked out. What wasn't so easily blocked out was the bug continuously flying and attacking her face. "What. The. Hell!" she yelled, while trying to swat at it with her book. Suddenly, mid way through a rather powerful swing, the book flew out of her hand and hit someone biking past her house. They quickly fell over off their bike and hit the ground. Well, it _was _a big book (Bailey was an avid reader.) _'Oh shit!' _she thought as she made her way back into the house through the window.

Finally, she made it outside where the biker was slowly picking themselves up. "Are you okay?" Bailey asked, slightly out of breath. _'What kind of idiot doesn't wear a helmet!_' she thought viciously as she picked up their bike. The biker said "I've been better, but I'll live," and turned around to face her. _'Dammit'_ Bailey thought, still miffed,_ 'he's cute._'

Frankie was staying late in studio, working on her coupé jeté en tournant. Everyone else had left as soon as class ended, eager to get home and go out and have a good time. To Frankie, this was a good time, the best time she could imagine, well, if her friends were here it would be better, but it was still a great time. Dance was something familiar to Frankie, the one constant (besides her friends) in her life. Everything good came from dance. She met Mel, Bailey, and Delia when they had all taken a ballet class in pre-school. That was the age when every little girl wanted to be a ballerina, Frankie just never grew out of that stage. Eventually all the girls but Frankie had quit ballet: Mel because even as a five year old, she was tall and clumsy and kept knocking people over (the teacher had asked her to leave), Bailey because she was too shy and often refused to go on stage at performances, and Delia because, well, no one really knew, but Frankie guessed it was because her mother was pregnant again, and they didn't have time to take her to practices and such.

Frankie stayed and worked until her feet were numb. In dance, Frankie could excel. If she worked, she could get better and better. One stage, people would see a talented girl to be admired, not a poor girl to be pitied. Dance transformed her. While holding one of her most difficult positions, she saw someone standing in the doorway, watching her. She finished her dance and then looked over again, but the person was gone. She ran to the door and looked out into the hall, but no one was there. Getting the chills, she packed up her stuff, all the while feeling as if someone was watching her. She paused as she pulled out the pants and put them on over her leotard. She smiled as she looked at her self in the mirror. Even with her 5'3 frame, she was slender and tough. She could take the person watching her, or at least, that was what she told herself. Outside in the cold, she sat at the bus stop, cursing herself for not having a car...a _heated_ car.

* * *

**SmellyMelly00**: **Have you been able to reach Bailey?**

**Deli Deli Deli28: Nope, I think she went right to bed when she got home.**

**SmellyMelly00: Hmm. It couldn't possible have anything to do with us setting her watch to go off every half hour?**

**Deli Deli Deli28: I can't for the life of me see how the two are related. :D

* * *

**

"Your vathers at vork, and I'm gooing oot." Mrs. Novikov said walking into the kitchen where Mel was currently eating a whole bag of pita chips, all by herself.

"Ibb hen mupnh gouf vacks." She said, with her mouth full.

"Vould yoo please act like a lady?" Mrs. Novikov scoweled as she stormed out.

"I'll do my best!" She yelled with fake cheer, knowing her mother was already out the door. Sighing, Mel decided to take advantage of the sun that was almost non-existent where she lived, and lay be the pool.

A few minutes later, Mel was walking out the back door in a bathing-suit she knew her strict father would disapprove of. A few steps out the door, she noticed someone cleaning out the pool. _'Why?' _she thought '_it's not Wednesday?' _She straightened up to her full height, which can be quite impressive, and walked with power over to him, ready to shoo him away.

"Excuse me," she said when she was standing right behind him. He didn't answer. "EXCUSE ME!" she said almost yelling. No answer, this was getting outrageous. Finally, she poked him with her long, newly tanned, finger. "HEY! I"M TALKING TO YOU BUDDY!" she said as she repeatedly hit him.

He whirled around so he was bout an inch from her face, and he smiled, taking the ear-phones that Mel had failed to notice out of his ears, "Hi." he said smiling.

"Oh..uh..hi!" she said, nervous, he was older, twenty maybe. She looked down and she realized what she was wearing, which was basically nothing. She screamed a little bit and whirled around to grab a towel. She wasn't embarrassed or anything, she had a body (a good one at that), it was just a natural reaction to cover yourself when someone smiles at you like that. In her frantic haste to grab the towel on the lounge chair behind her, she accidentally hit him, knocking him with full force into the pool.

"Oh god..."

* * *

New chapters deserve new reviews. I think so at least... 


	6. Taco Town and Floating Bouys

hi. enjoy. bye

* * *

"Don't you think you are going to get out of talking about that eye, mister" Delia whispered to her brother as she set his breakfast down in front of him. He look up and glared at her as she moved around the table, placing a cereal bowl in front of each child at the table. Earlier, Delia helped him cover it up with her make-up only after he promised to tell her what happened. Before he could spill, their was an accident downstairs involving roller blades and "vacuum jousting" that required her immediate attention. 

After breakfast, Delia cornered Joshua in his room. "Sit down and talk. Now. No excuses."

She sat down on his bed, swirled the chair he was sitting in around and grabbed an armrest with each hand so that he was surrounded. There's nothing scarier than an overprotective sister.

"I just got hit, okay?" he said, his tone that of absolute annoyance, "that's it".

Delia stared him down a bit, trying to psych him out. "By whom?"

He looked down at his lap.

"It wasn't...Dad, was it?" she stumbled out.

"What?!? Oh, come on, Del! You don't honestly think that?"

"Well, no. But it's more common than you think, a lot of kids get hit by parents who can't handle stress" '_Or by drunk jackasses who are the epitome of sleaze.'_ she thought furiously.

"Yeah, well I just got hit with a ball, okay? So don't go all after-school special on me."

_Oh_, Delia was a little disappointed, to be honest. She was completely ready to intervene and have a sit down with the family of the black-eye-giver. More Oprah style rather than Dr.Phil.

"Oh, well then, I guess I better start the laundry." She turned back around when she reached to door and asked, "you'd tell me if you had a problem, right?"

Joshua thought for a moment and then replied, "Before I'd tell Mom and Dad, but only if I really needed help. I'm older now, you need to let me do things on my own."

Delia smiled and said "Okay then, Mr. Responsibility, _you _can do the laundry."

* * *

"I think the bleeding stopped," Bailey said as she pulled the gauze away from his head. They were sitting at her kitchen table, which was covered with the insides of Bailey's first aid kit. Yes, she had a first aid kit. What former brownie didn't? 

"Yeah? What do you think? Will I get a scar?" Aaron, the biker, asked turning is head and making a pouty face.

Baliey blushed and replied, "I hope not, I'd feel terrible if I caused permanent damage."

Aaron smiled, "I already told you not to worry about it, I should have been watching for flying books. It's my own fault, really."

Bailey laughed and looked down. How did this happen? One minute she was peacefully reading, the next she was laughing with possibly the cutest boy she knew. Boys really weren't her thing, she was too shy and never had anything to say to them. But Aaron made it easy, he made her feel, well, _witty_.

"What were you reading anyway?" He grabbed the book that Bailey had laid on the table, "Vanity Fair", he read. "For school or pleasure?"

"For myself, I guess" Bailey replied, "I'm re-reading it actually" she blushed.

Aaron let out a low whistle, "With that arm I pegged you for a jock rather than a book worm," he went on, "guess I'm bad at first impressions. Maybe, we could do somthing later and go for a second impression?"

"Yeah" Baily smiled, "that'd be gr-"

"-told you you wouldn't like it." Her family was back and was heading in to the kitchen.

"Oh, god" Bailey said, "um, you need to go." She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him out the back sliding door.

"Wait! Why? Can I have your num-"

"Sorry, just go! Trust me!" she slid the door closed in front of his face, whirled the blinds closed, and turned her back to the door just as her family walked in.

"Oh, your home, honey," her mom looked startled to see Bailey standing their

"We just saw a move, but we thought you'd be busy," her father said, trailing in behind her sister.

"Mom, Dad, can I show you the purse I want to order now? It's up stairs on my laptop," her sister piped in.

"Sure, Cecilia. Bailey, you need to make your own lunch, we already ate." They three of them turned out of the kitchen and walked up the stairs. Bailey let out a sigh, she didn't really know why she hid Aaron from them. It was just natural for her to keep her family out of as much of her life as possible, just like they kept out of Bailey's life as much as possible.

She began to clean up the mess in the kitchen. None of her family even bothered to ask why their table was covered with bloody gauze and first aid supplies.

* * *

"Rick! Ooh, stop it." Cindy, Frankie's mother, giggled from the bedroom. Frankie rolled her eyes in disgust. _'It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon!' _she thought furiously. Trying to ignore the not-so-pleasant sounds coming from the other room, Frankie finished up packing a lunch for herself and Mel. _'Shit!' _a blob of peanut butter fell onto her thigh. Her thigh that was in _the_ pants! She grabbed some leftover napkins from the Taco Town bag that was on the counter. _'shitshitshit'_ she whiped rapidly at her leg, causing the blob to become a tan colored stain. _'Fuck it', _she though and gave up. That was the contribution she gave to the pants, a cheap food stain. Fabulous. 

She looked over the lunch she had made. Two peanut butter (damn you!) sandwiches, two cans of the cheap store brand soda, and a half-empty bag of stale pretzels. It was edible, but not really that appetizing. She knew Mel was probably going to bring some sort of foreign delicacy, the Novikov's had a chef come once a week and stock their fridge with the type of food that looks to pretty to eat. Frankie looked back down at the food she had prepared. The peanut butter was leaking and seeping through the cheap bread, the soda would probably be flat, and most of the salt had fallen off the pretzels so that it laid on the bottom of the bag, making it a clean white. She grabbed her bike (if she even left it outside for one night, chain or not, there was an absolute chance it would be stolen), and headed out the front door yelling "There's some snacks for you on the table!".

* * *

"You're late" Mel said as Frankie rolled up to the grassy hill she was sitting on. The park was a usual meeting place for the four of them.

"Hey, some of us can't just zip over here." Frankie replied, falling over, exhausted, next to her friend.

"That's not going to work missy. I offered to pick you up, remember?"

"Oh," Frankie said propping herself up on her elbows, "I forgot about that. So what is there to eat?"

"Um, we have some kotmis satsivi, some chebureki rolls, and some kletskis." Mel listed off, taking out the tupperware from the bag to her left.

"It looks good, so don't tell me what's in it." Frankie said grabbing a roll.

"Deal." Mel looked out at the playground that was in front of them.

"So," Frankie said swallowing, "what's happened in your first hours home?"

"Well, I finished my summer reading book, organized my closet, assaulted our new pool boy..."

Frankie chocked on the piece of kletski in her mouth. "You what!?" she coughed out.

"Well, I went out back to tan, and he was out there. So I called out to him, but he didn't move so I went up to him and poked him in the back. He turned around and I...well, I just knocked him into the pool."

"Oh my god. What did you do? Did you help him out?"

Mel blushed, "Well, kinda."

"What do you mean kinda? You either did or didn't."

"Well, you weren't there! He was..attractive, and I was in my shiny gold suit (which now I can't believe I let you guys talk me into buying!), and he had the head phones, and I screamed, and he smiled, and I reached for the towel, and he fell in!" Mel babbeled.

Frankie just stared at her friend, "Mel, I need you to tell me, what did you do after he fell into the pool?"

Mel looked down, blushed, and mumbled "I threw the ring bouy at him and ran back inside."

* * *

phew. i could really go for some Taco Town right now. Maybe a nice big REVIEW burrito. 


End file.
